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"Women Against Feminism" Parody Is a Hilarious New Addition to the Feminism Hashtag-Fest

If you're on social media at all (so that's everyone), it's hard to miss the ongoing, sometimes nuanced (sometimes not so much), conversations about feminism that have been trending lately. Women are taking to Twitter, Tumblr, and Instagram to share their thoughts. Some of them are serious, some heartfelt, and a few are hilarious (See: feminist Ryan Gosling Tumblr.) The latest addition that has us all talking: Twitter account @notofeminism.

I don't need fisenm because it's easy, for allowance just give your daughter 75% of what your son gets so she won't be surprised as an adult

The Twitter account was created as a parody of the anti-feminist Women Against Feminism Tumblr on which women share their own disillusionment with the term, including feeling judged for their personal beliefs or looked down upon for choosing to be a stay-at-home mom. But many of the posts seem to fall under the misguided notion that to be a feminist is to be a man-hating victim who wants rights for women but not for men. Sadly, this is a misconception held by a lot of women and men, and it just flat-out isn't true—feminism is about everyone having the same rights. As recently as the1970s, CNN reports, a bank could (and would) refuse to issue a woman a credit card without her husband's signature, women couldn't serve on juries in all states (they had a home to tend to!), and birth control was often only provided to married women. We can thank feminism for advancing women on all these issues and then some, but we've still got a waysto go. In other words, yes, we still need feminism—which @notofeminism points out tweet by funny tweet. Here are a few:

i don’t need femisny because if a man can sing or act or kick a ball well it casts a spell making us all forget his abuse of women wow magic

And then there is #feministsareugly, a trending image hashtag that doesn't mean what you think it does. Started by two women on Twitter, @LilyBolourian and @Cheuya last week. Bolourian described it as as a celebration of women tweeting that "For women, particularly of color, owning our appearance is a radical act. I'm about any space to celebrate our bodies."

Women responded by posting photos of themselves (and celebs like Beyonce and Emma Watson), showing the many different faces and looks of feminism—beautiful, strong, and, frankly, amazing.

Unfortunately, the thinking behind #feministsareugly got a little lost in translation on the Internet (as these kind of things often do). Some readers assumed that the hashtag was saying—without irony—that all feminists are ugly and reacted to the idea that yet another body judgement was being hurled women's way. Here's the thing about feminism that's great though—it's not about what you look like. Any woman can be a feminist, period. There is no feminist rulebook.

Have you participated in a feminist meme? Share your faves in the comments!